Sawmill Struggles
by Ill-Intentions
Summary: In an attempt to prove himself to his family after his brothers death, a still grieving young man steps onto the battlefield as a Soldier. Unfortunately, a few members of his team are less than satisfied with him. With the help of the members who are supportive, he manages to keep going, but when the enemy sets their sights on the rookie Soldier, things quickly go from bad to worse
1. Chapter 1

**Authors Note: Hello hello hello! My name is Ill-Intentions, and I'm a slightly-new-ish writer here! I tried posting a story to this fandom in the past (With the help of a friend's account. She posted it for me, lol), and not a lot of people read it. Tried again with this account, and even less people read it (I have no luck). So, this is basically my last attempt to save this story idea. I've switched up characters, added some new ones, and I'm ready and willing to keep writing this story.**

 **Quick thing so I don't get killed: Tf2 belongs to Valve, not to me.**

 **Please enjoy!**

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The young man looked out the window of the bus, watching the desert sands roll by. Today was a big day for him. Today, he would be transferring to a new team, along with some others who were being transferred as well. Earlier in the day, he tried to create conversation with them, but they all sort of brushed him off. Acted like he wasn't there almost.

He took a slow, deep breath and looked at the papers he had been given again. On the first one, was a logo. The logo for a team his father always worked for. The team the young man had only been working for, for the past couple years. The lit bomb with the short, curled fuse and curled letters inside it, spelling RED, interested him as much now as they did the day he started. He put the papers beside him again, on top of the suitcase he had brought with him. He knew he barely needed a suitcase. All he'd brought was a change of clothes, an extra helmet,a muscle shirt and sweatpants to sleep in, a pack of gum, a toothbrush, and several small sentimental items. He sighed, and looked out the window again, and before he knew it, he felt himself starting to doze off. As desperately as he wanted, and needed the sleep, it was hard to get any over the incessant chatter of the other mercs.

This was only for a moment though, as not even ten seconds later, the driver stopped the bus, and someone else stepped on. He appeared to be a Demoman, from his attire, his dark skin, and the absence of one eye. The Demoman smiled and nodded to the driver, who held his grim, angry expression. The Demo adjusted a bag he was carrying, awkwardly due to its weight, and trudged forwards through the seats of people, making sure to apologize if his bag accidentally hit somebody along the way. He looked about, then realized that the seats were full of the various mercs - who were all wearing white and light grey colors to avoid hostility during transport between RED and BLU - and that there was nowhere for him to sit.

Though he was a bit drowsy, the younger man moved his suitcase, and scooted closer to the window, providing a place for the Demo to sit. The Demo took notice of his gesture, smiled, and took the spot.

"Thanks, lad. Cool helmet." he said, giving a small nod. There was a silence for a few minutes before the Demo broke it again with a question.

"Where are yah headed?"

The helmeted man looked back at the Demo. "Sawmill." he answered simply "I am going to Sawmill."

The Demo grinned "No way! Me too!"

The helmeted man returned the smile. Not only because this Demo's apparent cheerfulness was contagious, but because he knew he wouldn't be the only one who had no idea what they were doing.

"Are you really?" the helmeted man blurted out

"Yeah!" the Demo replied, before going 'Ooo!' and leaning in a little and asking quietly "What team are yah on?"

The helmeted man showed the RED logo on the front of his papers, to which the Demo pulled out his own. The logo was identical.

"Alright!" the Demo beamed, still grinning. "This should be fun!"

"I agree!" the helmeted man concurred. After the Demo calmed his excitement, he looked back at the helmeted man. "So.. you're a Soldier, I'm guessin'?" he said as he knocked on the helmet.

"Yes I am." the helmeted man replied, to which the Demo nodded.

"You look to be a little young for a Soldier," he commented "Yah haven't even grown facial hair yet."

The Soldier nodded. "Yeah, I get that a lot."

"How old are yah?"

"I am twenty-nine."

"Twenty-nine? Wow, you're young. That's not much older than a Scout, yah know?" The Demo told him, to which the Soldier rolled his eyes a bit. Noticing he had caused annoyance, the Demo looked away. "Sorry."

"No no," The Soldier demurred "You're fine. I just hear this kind of thing a lot, it gets a little old." he finished, nodding in response, before the Demo spoke yet again.

"So what's your name?" he asked

"Oh, hahaha. My name is Ayer." the Soldier replied.

"Air? Is that what you just said?" The Demo asked after a moment, clearly confused.

"No, Ayer." The Soldier replied, familiar with a reaction such as this one, too.

"Air." The Demo repeated, to which the Soldier replied with:

"A-Y-E-R."

"A-Y-E-R. Ayer?"

"Yes."

The Demo chuckled "WOW, that's confusin'. You're weird, but that's okay, so am I. My name's Kendrick."

Ayer stuck out his hand. "Nice to meet you, Kedrick."

Kendrick locked hands with Ayer and shook. The whole ordeal seemed to have cheered Ayer up and out of his tired state. The two talked for a while, exchanging thoughts, debating opinions, and playfully bantering back and forth. It was funny, really. They barely knew each other, yet they were acting like they knew each other forever.

Eventually, when desert turned to dirt, the driver stopped and announced that they had reached Sawmill. Kendrick hoisted his suitcase up again.

"Alright. Let's go." he said, motioning for the Soldier to follow.

Ayer nodded his head in response, took his own bag and stood up. The two walked to the front of the bus, and on the way out, Ayer looked at the Driver.

"Thanks for the ride." he said.

The drivers unshaven face held it's scowling look as he simply nodded, making a bit of ash fall from his cigar. Ayer gulped, and hurriedly stepped off the bus. He almost immediately regretted it, though, as the cold hit at him harshly from the air itself. He pulled his jacket in around himself a bit. Oh, how he hated cold weather!

He could hear the sounds of the doors closing, sealing the fact that there was no turning back before he heard a voice yell.

"Vait! Vait! I'm getting off!"

The pair looked back, seeing another figure pushing through the seats as well, occasionally saying a few things that were incomprehensible to him. As the other man appeared in front of the steps, they only saw a blur as the other man fell, spilling his papers and luggage onto the dirt.

"Ahh, cripe!" Kendrick shouted as he ran back to help him, while messily grabbing ahold of the papers that were strewn about as well. Ayer rushed to the downed man, and hoisted him up as the bus drove off. Once the papers were gathered up, Kendrick handed the unorganized mess to the other man hesitantly.

"Sorry, I don't know how to arrange these." he apologized as the one who fell took the papers gratefully.

The other man looked at Ayer and Kendrick through glasses, unsure of what to think for a moment. He looked at the ground, then at his surroundings, then at his hands, and then back at them.

"Uhh…" he started, again looking at the ground. "Zhank you." he mumbled, his German accent clearly audible.

"Hey, no problem." Kendrick told him, reaching his hand out a moment later.

The other man looked at the outstretched hand for a moment before taking it with a firm grip and shaking.

"It's nice to meet you, bozh. I'm Kurt." he introduced, sounding a bit shy, and eye contact being a bit shaky.

"Nice to meet you, Kurt. I'm Kendrick, and this is Ayer. How are yah?"

"Vell, considering you two just assisted me in gathering my zhings back up vhen I fell, I'm pretty good. How are you two?"

Before anymore words could be exchanged, something spat up the dirt beside them. They jumped back simultaneously, and stared at the spot for a moment before another thing did the same, except much, much closer, narrowly missing Ayer's foot.

Ayer yelped, and head shot in the direction the things came from, his eyes scanning the area frantically for any sign of anyone. He saw nothing.

"SNIPER!" someone from inside the gates ahead shouted, their voice holding an alarmed tone. In a blur, Ayer felt his arm be grabbed roughly. He was dragged back through the gates and shoved backwards. As he hit the ground, he caught a glimpse of Kurt and Kendrick being shoved in as well. Ayer closed his eyes tightly, not opening them in fear of what he might see.

However, when he heard a man chuckling, he opened them. He saw Kurt and Kendrick standing with a man in a red suit and balaclava. The man in the suit was facepalming, as if disappointed. That was until, he brought his hand away, which revealed a smiling face.

"Ahh, _Merde._ " he choked out in between chuckles of amusement, Kendrick joining his laughter soon after realizing the danger was no longer present. This lasted for a moment or so, before they managed to calm.

"Well now… pardon me. My behavior wasn't very appropriate for zhe situation." the suited man said with a French accent. The man cleared his throat before offering his gloved hand to Ayer, a calm smile on his face.

"Bonjour, gentlemen. My name is Maxence. I am zhe Spy here with zhe REDs. It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance." he explained, nodding his head a bit.

Ayer took the Frenchman's hand hesitantly, and was a bit surprised at the man's strength as he was pulled up.

"And who might you zhree be?"

Kurt looked at Ayer and Kendrick for a moment, before introducing himself and his allies.

This made the Frenchman's expression harden a bit. "Kurt…"

Kurt noticed this look and stepped back a bit. He looked to Ayer trying to read his face.

But Ayer wasn't paying attention to the German. He only watched as the hardened expression of the Frenchman softened into something else.

Sadness.

Maxence looked at the sand, his eyes a bit glassy, as if he had teared up slightly. He then closed his eyes before lifting his head to look at the sky. He stared for a moment, looking a bit lost for a moment before he half closed them and shook his head as he looked back at them.

"Apologies… Our old Medic had zhat name… It's a shame, what happened to him. No more zhan a fortnight ago, he was taken from us." he lamented

"Oh… I'm sorry for your loss." Kendrick grimaced as he approached and placed a comforting hand on the Frenchman's shoulder. Maxence shook his head again.

"Our old Soldier was killed by zhe same men… pretty soon after zhat… I was with him when he died… Respawn had been failing recently..." he explained. He opened his mouth to continue, but immediately closed it when he realized he was rambling.

He cleared his throat and turned to the new recruits.

"Well… I won't get into zhat. Allow me to show you zhree around."

Kendrick looked over at Ayer, and the Soldier shrugged as he looked back. The trio followed Maxence as he walked. Then, once they were sure Maxence wasn't paying attention to any conversation they would have, Kurt looked over to Kendrick and Ayer and spoke.

"You all do realize zhat zhis is a very dangerous base, right?" he asked, making Ayer's head immediately shoot in his direction to look at him, his oversized helmet spinning on his head a little.

"Dangerous?" he echoed, a hint of nervousness in his voice. "How?"

Kendrick looked at Ayer. "Aye, lad. Very dangerous. You've never heard the rumors about the BLU Team here?"

"The rumors?" Ayer continued.

"The Blu Team here," Kendrick began "is apparently extremely hostile. On and off the battlefield. I've heard things about them attacking members of the RED team during cease fire just to pass the time."

Kurt chuckled nervously "Zhe vaterfall here? Zhey've drowned people in zhere. Zhe saws? Zhose have been killing tools for zhem vhen zhey've felt especially cruel."

"Aye. Which means people like us are goin' tah be gettin' some protection from the others for a while. They'll know more about this than we do."

Ayer took that in for a minute or two, now beginning to imagine the horrors that the RED team had been through here. The thought of it scared him, honestly, but he was taught to never show fear. _Strike Fear, don't Show Fear_ his father would say _._

"But it's just a story," Kurt assured "I'm sure it's not true. It vas just a story started by people who are trying to ruin zhis place. It's made to scare people off."

"Oh, I hope you're right." Kendrick told the Medic.

Ayer nodded his agreement "Yeah…"

For a split second, Ayer saw something out of the corner of his eye. It was a person, definitely. A member of the BLU team. The figure had a small frame and overalls, so it had to be an Engineer. But, when Ayer turned his head to look at the figure, it was gone.

He stopped and stared at the spot for a second. He could have sworn there was someone there. He didn't let his gaze wander from the spot, incase it appeared again. But the more he stared into the empty space, the more he felt something build up inside of him. Something that made him want to look away, but keep staring at the same time. The feeling felt a lot like fear, but something was… different about it. If one was to ask him exactly what, though, he'd be unsure of how to answer.

"Ayer." he heard Kendrick's voice say from behind him, causing him to take his eyes off the spot. "Let's go, lad."

Ayer nodded, now noticing that as soon as he took his eyes off of the spot, his fear levels dropped significantly. Before he followed, he took a deep breath. He didn't know what just happened there, but he knew one thing for sure. The enemy was dangerous, and after his team. He vowed to himself at that very moment that he would NOT let his team fall victim to their cruel treatment. Something told him, however, that he wouldn't keep this promise long.


	2. Chapter 2

**Hello again! I'm here with a new chapter. A quick note before we get started, there will be more to this story than just Adventure/Suspense. There will be a little bit of Hurt/Comfort, a little bit of Tragedy here and there, and definitely a look into past events.**

 **That's all for now. Enjoy!**

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Maxence lead the two to a small, neat-looking building outside of the battlefield of Sawmill. The placement of the building was confusing, as they had to walk through the battlefield itself in order to get there. The Spy opened the door, and held it open before gesturing inside the building, telling the three that they could go inside.

Ayer nodded and thanked the Spy before stepping inside. The room was brightly lit, with drab light grey walls, and a spotless white tiled floor. The smell of disinfectant was a bit overpowering, and the heater in the room made the room much warmer than the outside, to the relief of everyone.

Kurt commented in approval. "Vell… sure is nice in here." he said as he put his bags on an empty seat and adjusted his glasses. "It's so cold."

Maxence nodded his head in agreement before walking over to a desk where a woman sat. Ayer trudged over to an empty seat and placed his bag next to Kurt's own. He took a seat on the other side of the room and looked at his hands while slouching slightly. He tried to listen in on their conversation for about five minutes, but was interrupted by seeing something out of the corner of his eye coming at him. He looked up to see Kurt again. He looked at the older man as he sat next to him.

"So… Umm… Vhich state here in America did you come from?" Kurt asked, a curious tone clear in his voice.

Ayer hesitated a moment before answering. "Uhh, I came from the Midwestern states. I feel like I'd be laughed at if I said which one, though. Not a lot of Mercs come from that state, and it is a weird place"

"You shouldn't be ashamed of where you came from." Kurt said to him as he took a seat next to the Soldier.

"I am not ashamed of it, I am very proud to be an American." Ayer assured

"I'm proud to be a German. I come from Wetzlar, which is a city in a place called Hesse." Kurt explained, somewhat in hopes of getting Ayer to talk a bit about himself. Kendrick, who had sprawled himself along a row of chairs on the other side of the room, raised one hand and spoke.

"Ullapool." he said "I come from Ullapool, Scotland. And I'm damn proud."

Before Kurt could open his mouth to answer, Maxence stepped over to them.

"Gentlemen, come wizh me." he instructed. Immediately after, he walked over to glass double doors, motioning for them to follow. The three stood up in unison and stepped through the doors, walked down a hallway that lead to another room, and entered it.

The room was small, and appeared to be a lab room, where one would get their blood taken. The sight made Kurt grin. "Ooo! Vhat is zhis?" he asked out loud, to which Maxence answered.

"Zhis is zhe final step before we go into Saw Mill. Your blood must be taken, so it can be put into the Respawn system."

Kendrick nodded his head. "Well, alright."

After a minute, the doors opened and someone rushed in. When the men turned their heads to look at them, they saw a woman. She wore a lavender and white colored shirt that was buttoned up to the top, a dark purple skirt that reached just above her knees, dark colored tights, and black dress shoes. Her dark brown hair was put in a low bun on her head, and she wore black-framed glasses that made the green in her eyes stand out. She looked like the woman who had been at the desk earlier.

"I am SO sorry to interrupt, I forgot, I need their papers." She stressed, brushing a lock of her hair behind her ear and adjusting her glasses.

"Zhat is alright, Miss Pauling." Maxence replied "No need to stress."

The woman straightened herself out, then turned to the trio of new Mercs.

"Hello everyone," she greeted "I'm Miss Pauling, the Administrators assistant. I'm just here to collect your papers and get them filed so that everything can be sorted out for you three."

She walked to Kurt, who had his papers a jumbled mess. Miss Pauling took them and examined them. "You dropped them, didn't you?" she asked, now putting the papers in their correct order.

"I fell down zhe stairs getting off of zhe bus." he explained, to which Miss Pauling sucked in a breath through her teeth. "Ouch. You okay, Medic?" she asked. Kurt responded with a nod, then Miss Pauling thanked him, and moved on to Kendrick. Kendrick handed his papers over, and the woman flipped through them to make sure everything was in order, then nodded, thanked Kendrick, then moved on to Ayer.

She gave him a slightly puzzled look, and flipped through a few pages on the clipboard she was carrying.

"You're Mr. Tyrrell, right?" she asked him, to which Ayer responded with a nod. After a bit of reading, Miss Pauling went 'Wow' and looked back at him.

"Could I see your papers please?"

Ayer handed over his papers. "Take a look."

Miss Pauling took the documents and flipped through them one at a time, mumbling to herself as she did. After a few minutes she nodded and looked back at him.

"Well, everything adds up. I'm surprised with you, honestly. We don't usually accept people to be Soldiers until they're in their late thirties, wow." she said with a chuckle as amused smile took a spot on her face for a moment. After realizing the Soldier wasn't amused, it dropped into an unreadable expression.

"Sorry, sorry," she apologized "I thought adding a little humor would cheer us both up."

"Cheer us both up? What do you mean, Miss?" Ayer questioned. After a moment she leaned down and whispered something in his ear.

"I heard about what happened to your brother. I'm sorry for your loss."

Ayer turned his head towards her a little bit, and whispered back. "It is alright. It was not your fault."

She nodded slightly "Still, though. I hope things get better for you. Do your best here, okay? It's what he would want."

She straightened back up, smiled at him once more, then took a deep breath. "Thank you again, guys. Good luck to all of you."

They replied one at a time.

"Thank yah, Miss Pauling." Kendrick thanked with a nod.

"Danke, Fräulein Pauling." Kurt said in his own language, momentarily forgetting that the others in the room didn't speak it.

"Thank you, Miss Pauling. For what you said." Ayer thanked, now smiling a bit himself. Miss Pauling waved politely, then exited the room again.

One of the other men in the room, one who was wearing white lab coat and rubber gloves, looked over to Kurt. "Sir, if you could just sit right here and we'll take your blood." he said as he gestured to the phlebotomy chair.

Kurt smiled a bit "Oh, sure!"

He stood, and made his way over to sit in it. He put his arm on the cushioned armrest, the T-shirt and the other doctor pressed onto the soft spot on his arm, in search of a vein to puncture. He searched one arm, then the other, until he found a good one. He tied a tourniquet around the Germans arm, to get the vein to pop up. The man then used an alcohol wipe to sterilize the area, and inserted the needle. It hurt, yes, but Kurt found amusement in watching his blood swirl through the plastic tubing. Kendrick chuckled at the Medic's reaction.

Once Kurt was done, the blood-drawing process repeated twice more with Kendrick and Ayer, and the three were given clothing of their team's own color and told to change into them before they were good to go.

"Now, the process of getting your DNA into the system will take about twenty-four hours." he told them "Stay safe until then, alright guys?"

"I will make sure zhat zhey stay safe." Maxence assured with a smile. "Zhank you so much."

The four exited the building, and headed towards their base. The closer they got, the more they could hear something. It sounded like a guitar. As they approached, they saw a man in a hard hat sitting on a pile of logs. He seemed calm and content, with a smile on his face that confirmed that. Maxence smiled and waved to the man.

"Hello, Rhys!" he shouted from the distance, causing the man to look over, and his smile immediately grew.

"Well, hey there!" he greeted as he hopped down. "Are those the new guys?"

Maxence nodded "Indeed!"

The Engineer ran into an entrance, and yelled something down a hallway before coming out again and running over to them.

"I got the others, they're coming now." He grinned. He then turned his head to look at the three new recruits.

"Howdy!" he greeted happily "How are you all? It's good to have you here!"

"It's good tah be here!" Kendrick beamed, reaching out to shake the Engineers hand. "I'm Kendrick." he gestured to Kurt "This is Kurt." the German smiled and waved "Hallo.". Kendrick then gestured to Ayer. "And that's Ayer."

"Hi, Kendrick, Hi Kurt, Hi Ayer. I'm Rhys." he told them, tone a bit more somber sounding than before. He turned to Kurt. "Quick question, is your name Kurtis, or just Kurt?"

"It's Kurtis." the German replied "I hear your old Medic had zhe same name as me?"

"Well, he was just Kurt… I miss him." Rhys sighed. Maxence walked over to the smaller man and placed a hand on his shoulder.

"We all do, Rhys. We all do. But we have to move on. It's okay to be sad, but we can't let it consume us." Maxence told him glumly.

"I'm sorry," Kurt apologized "if I'm bringing back any bad memories for you."

Rhys put on a sad smile "No, it's okay. We'll get used to it."

"Engineer!" a loud, Russian accented voice boomed from the entryway, startling Ayer.

When the group looked over, A gigantic, muscular man stood in the doorway, appearing to be a Heavy. The Heavy had a slightly stern look in his eyes, but it immediately left his face once he saw the new recruits.

"Are those new little men?" the Russian shouted again.

"Yeah!" Rhys replied as a Sniper, a Scout, a Pyro appear in the entryway. Upon seeing them, they Pyro made a sound, as if surprised. Not five seconds later, the Pyro started clapping his hands and laughing under his mask. Then he ran out, and opened his arms, engulfing Kurt in a hug, to which the Medic yelped. The Pyro then did the same to Kendrick, who returned the hug and let out a small chuckle. Once the Pyro was done with Kendrick, he proceeded to embrace Ayer tightly. The compression made the Soldier gasp a bit, but he hugged back nonetheless. Rhys laughed for a minute before speaking.

"Don't mind Griffith. He's excitable." the southerner explained

"I can tell." Ayer smirked

"It's actually good that he's like this. He's been really down since our Medic and Soldier died. He never got to say goodbye."

Ayer felt the Pyro nod his head, and 'aww'ed. "That's alright, Griffith. I did not get to say goodbye to somebody either."

The Pyro made a distressed sound and hugged tighter. Ayer did the same, and Rhys smiled and patted Griffith on the head.

"Let's hope he'll actually eat something now."

Kendrick looked to the Engineer. "Actually eat something?" he echoed.

"Yes," Maxence began He opened his mouth to say more, but Kurt cut him off.

"Vhen vas zhe last time he ate?"

The Spy thought for a moment before replying "A couple weeks ago. Didn't eat much after our Medic died, and ate even less after Soldier." he explained, to which the three made expressions of varying sympathy.

"But it's alright." Rhys added "How he's acting now is a VERY good sign."

Ayer felt Griffith shiver a little, and from the looks of the others, they were starting to become affected by the cold as well. Maxence spoke up and said "Alright, let's get inside. Zhe hills are alive wizh zhe sound of nozhing because of zhis cold. It's all dead, and I have a feeling zhat if we don't get inside now, we'll be knocking our dead fingers off wizh a hammer in no time." he joked, in an attempt to lighten the otherwise heavy mood.

"Yeah," the Scout agreed with a laugh, telling Maxence his attempt worked "This weather should be freakin' ashamed of itself."

With that, the group headed into the base. They descended down some stairs, escaping the cold for a bit before reaching the floor. Water was covering it, much to the surprise of Ayer and the others.

"Don't worry about the water." Rhys told them. "It won't get your feet wet, it ain't that deep." he assured. When the three stepped into the water, they realized that this was true, and walked normally. There were nine chairs in the main room, and each of them took a seat, Ayer in between Kurt and Kendrick. They were quiet for a moment before Maxence spoke up again.

"Alright, gentlemen. For zhose of you who don't know, zhese men are Kendrick, Kurt, and Ayer. Yes, Ayer is young for a Soldier, and yes, Kurt has the same name as our old Medic. Seriously." he began, directing his last two sentences towards the Scout.

"Yeah, well, for a Soldier, he certainly doesn't look like much." The Scout goaded, keeping his eyes locked onto Ayer. Maxence scowled at the young Bostonian.

"Noah, please let me continue. Now, anyways, we must teach and protect zhem for right now. In zhe last monzh, zhe BLU's have been getting more and more violent, and now zhat we have zhree men who don't know anyzhing about zhis area at all, zhey will SURELY target zhem. We must-"

"Jesus, look at him! How the hell is THAT guy ever gonna be able to replace Isaac!?" he asked as he threw out his hand in a gesture towards Ayer, causing the Soldier to aim his head down and look at his hands, which were on his knees.

"Noah, don't start! We know you and Isaac were close, but you don't have to be an ass to everyone about it! Especially not to a new recruit, give him a chance!" Maxence hissed.

"I'm not starting, I'm saying what everyone else is thinking! I mean, hey, I miss the old Kurt and I miss Demo, too, but at least their replacements look like they might actually be worth something!" Noah argued, causing Maxence to glare at him with anger creeping into his expression.

"Now, ZHAT was rude. I'm sure nobody else here zhinks zhat, do zhey?" The Frenchman asked as he looked to the others. After a hesitant moment, the Sniper raised his hand, as did the Heavy.

"Wha- William! Vladik!" Maxence chided

"Sorry. I just don't see it. Not yet, at least." The Sniper mumbled.

The Heavy sighed "He does not look capable. Am willing to give him a chance before I make final decision, but for now, I agree with Scout."

"Yah see that? I ain't the only one who thinks this guy isn't even gonna be HALF the Soldier Isaac was!" Noah huffed

"Who are you to talk badly about him!? You haven't even given him a chance!"

With that, the Frenchman and the Bostonian started arguing. Loudly. The walls threw back every word they said, filling the room and causing the other Mercs to fidget around in their seats uncomfortably. Ayer let the words of the Scout sink in for a minute or two before he stood up, and left the room. He sighed as similar words - words that he had tried to banish from his memory - started to buzz in his head again. They stung at him like a swarm of angry bees.

Ayer walked up the steps again to the outside and wandered, eventually making his way to the spawn room and staying in there. He took a seat on the bench next to the lockers, crossed his arms and sat there, looking at the ground. He didn't need this right now. This was the last thing he needed, and the fact that two other mercenaries agreed with what Noah had said made it worse.

After a few minutes of sitting there and wondering if everyone was right about him, he heard footsteps approach him and looked up, seeing Kendrick standing in front of him.

"Hey."

Ayer didn't reply to the Scotsman, and lowered his head again. Kendrick stood for a second or two before taking a seat next to his friend.

"Don't listen to that bloody Scout. He doesn't know what he's talkin' about. He's just mad because his friend died, he's grieving."

"Yeah, well, I am grieving too, and I'm not going around and belittling someone I don't even know!" Ayer blurted out.

"Yah are?" Kendrick asked.

"Yes, I'm grieving!"

"Who died?"

Ayer was silent for a moment before taking a deep breath to calm, and speaking.

"My brother."

'How long ago did he die?"

"Last Tuesday."

"Oh… I'm sorry for your loss, lad." The Demo sympathized, hugging the Soldier in an attempt to bring him any comfort.

"My brother was the only person who ever believed in me… but he was also the one I stand in the shadow of to this very day. His name was Mason, and he always did everything better than me. People took note of that, and raised their expectations for ME, held me to HIS standards. They kept talking about how he was better than me, and how he was more talented than me, and that I should aspire to be like him. Especially my father.

In fact, my father was the worst one. He would always ask me 'Why can't you be more like your brother?' and 'Why is it that your brother can do this, but you can't?'. Negative comparison after negative comparison from that man! That is why I went into this field of work in the first place, to prove myself to him! He worked here in the battlefield for years, and I wanted to show him that I could be great, and to make Mason proud! But now that my brother is gone, my father is more disappointed in me than he ever was! He's never going to accept me for who I am!"

After the angry blurting was over, Ayer took a few more deep breaths. He was getting worked up, and he could feel himself shaking. Eventually managed to return the hug Kendrick had given. His grip was loose and sad. "Now I have three people who do not even know me saying I am not good enough… What's wrong with me…?"

"Nothing is wrong with you." Kendrick assured "You aren't less than enough, I promise."

"Yeah, tell that to my father." Ayer grumbled

"Oh, trust me, if I could I'd give him a piece of my mind." Kendrick swore "That was a real stupid thing to do. You don't do that to your kid. That ain't right."

The two sat there for a moment before Ayer felt comfortable enough to let go. Kendrick let go as well, and placed a hand on Ayer's shoulder.

"Lad, don't get too worked up just yet. We go into battle tomorrow. You can prove yourself to them then. You'll be the best damn Soldier they ever knew."

A silence hung in the air for about five minutes before more footsteps approached and Maxence stepped into the room.

"Ayer, I am SO sorry." he apologized "I don't know what's gotten into zhat boy. He's not usually like zhis towards people, I promise you."

"It is alright. Not like I haven't heard anything like it before."

Maxence walked to Ayer and Kendrick, standing in front of them. "Well… zhey agreed to give you a chance in zhe battle tomorrow. Just… do your very best, okay? Give it your all. One hundred percent. And just know zhat I won't zhink any less of you if you can't do what Isaac did. Even if ZHEY zhink ozherwise.." Maxence promised

Ayer nodded his head in understanding, the words giving him a bit of comfort. The Spy motioned for them to stand, and lead them out of the room.


	3. Chapter 3

**Hey again guys! Sorry this chapter took so long, I had a little bout with Writers Block. But hey, new Chapter! Woo!**

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"Would you like to know what zhe BLU team did on zhe first day I arrived here?" Maxence asked Ayer as the two walked around outside the spawn room. Ayer looked up at the Spy, and nodded his head.

"What did they do?"

"Zhey tried to scare zhe team, especially me. Zhey started blaring heavy metal music, running around and screaming like maniacs, breaking zhings, and zhey even shot at me and zhe ozhers a few times. Zhey went crazy, trying to intimidate and scare us." Maxence explained before chuckling "And did it work? Hell yes it did."

Ayer laughed a bit himself, and Maxence put a hand on his shoulder. "I won't lie, zhey're probably going to do zhe same zhing to you, Kendrick, and Kurt. Just stay inside and you'll be okay."

Around the corner, stumbling could be heard, along with some mumbling, and a belch. Kendrick then staggered out from around the corner, and into view. His hand was on the wall next to him, and he appeared to be a bit disoriented and trying to support himself. He had a smile on his face, a slight limp in his step, and a bottle of alcohol in his hand. He spun around awkwardly, seeming to be trying to dance. He raised his hand with less coordination than a concussed troll, slurring more than singing "Scrrrruuuuummmmpyyyyy."

He turned his head with a 'Eh-? Wha-?', and looked at Ayer and Maxence. Upon seeing his friends, the smile on his face grew to a grin. He stumbled over to them, clearly having a hard time balancing himself. He tripped over his own two feet, which caused Ayer to jolt forwards and catch him before he hit the ground. The Scotsman hit his head on Ayer's helmet, then adjusted himself so that his head was on the Soldier's shoulder. Ayer turned his head slightly to look at Kendrick, and he could immediately smell the alcohol on his breath. It was disgustingly pungent. Maxence was heard chuckling as Kendrick attempted to speak again.

"Hiiiiii AAAAAAAAAAAyer." he slurred as he lazily wrapped the Soldier in a hug. Ayer continued to hold the Demoman up.

"Hello, Kendrick." he responded, a little bit happier to see Kendrick in a good mood. The Demo squeezed his friend a little, mumbling gibberish for a moment before saying "I love yah, man. You're mah best friend in the whooooole world."

Maxence smiled and patted Kendrick on the shoulder "I see you found zhe booze."

"Aye," Kendrick replied to the Spy with a nod "That's so truuuue. I love it."

After a minute or two of random chatter, the three made their way outside, to a nearby building. There, the rest of the team was gathered and talking amongst themselves. There was a large wooden table at the center of the room, and several places to sit and space to wander in the rest of the room. At the table, The Giant Russian, Vladik, seemed to be trying to persuade Griffith to eat a sandvich.

"Come on, leetle Pyro," he intoned "Eat the Sandvich. Sandvich make you strong."

Griffith pushed the plated food item away. From the looks of him, his mood had gone down considerably since his joyful first encounter with the rookies. He mumbled under his mask and shook his head.

The Heavy sighed, shook his own head as well, and stood, pushing the plate back towards his masked friend. "Will leave it here… don't you like it?"

When the Pyro didn't respond, Vladik walked off. In turn, William noticed Griffith sitting alone, and stood from his usual, isolated spot and handed the chocolate bar he was about to eat to Griffith. Griffith did nothing other than look what the Australian was handing to him.

"Have some." the Sniper offered as he set the Dalokohs bar next to the sandvich. "It's alright if you don't, but… I'm concerned for you, Griff."

The Sniper was then called over by Kurt - probably about Medical records - and had to leave the Pyro alone again.

Maxence sighed, as Noah approached Griffith.

"Zhis happens every day," The frenchman started "We offer him food, but he never accepts. If he ever does eat, we don't see it."

The Scout wordlessly put a can of Bonk next to the Pyro, gave him a hug and said something inaudible to him, then stood and took a few steps back. Maxence looked over to Ayer, who was still holding up the drunken Kendrick. Ayer felt bad for the grieving little Pyro, but he wasn't sure there was anything he could do.

"Ayer, he won't listen to any of us… perhaps you could say somezhing to him?" Maxence suggested.

"Me? Why?" Ayer questioned

"Maybe he'll listen to you. He isn't used to being in an environment wizh zhree less people. And who knows, maybe if he sees that you're concerned, he'll zhink of everyone else here, and he'll listen."

"But… I'm a rookie, why would he value what I say?"

"Because if zhe problem is serious enough for a rookie to see it, he'll know it's gone too far."

After processing that thought, Ayer figured that it was worth a shot and nodded his head in agreement.

"Alright. I'll do it."

Maxence smiled "Excellent. As for your drunken friend, I'll escort him to a table." he said as he took Kendrick in his own arms, and half-lead, half-dragged him to an open spot on the other side of the table, Kendrick slurring words along the way.

Ayer approached Griffith and took a seat next to him. Griffith turned to look at him, and made a slightly happy sound. Ayer smiled at the Pyro, and spoke.

"Hello, Griffith."

Griffith responded with a muffled 'Hi, Ayer.'

"How are you feeling?" Ayer asked him

Though it was hard to understand, Ayers best guess for what Griffith replied with was 'Not too great.'.

Ayer nodded his head. "Yeah, I heard that. Why don't you eat? It might make you feel better."

'I don't want to. I can't.'

"Why don't you want to?"

Griffith paused for a moment, and removed the filter on his mask. His voice was much clearer once he did.

"Sorry. I said 'I don't feel like I should.'. It feels… it just feels like I shouldn't."

"Why is that?"

Griffith sighed and explained a bit. "I've… I've not been handling these deaths so well." he said, a slight accent in his voice clearly audible now. "Especially not Isaac's... I grew up with him. We lived in the same neighborhood after me and my family moved when I was eight years old. He helped me adjust to everything. He helped me through almost every hard time we came across. When I suddenly lost my sister and father in a car accident, he stayed up late with me on the phone and let me talk to him while I just… sobbed. He stood up for me, and was always there. He was my best friend… That's why me and him, we joined this team together. We fought together, we met Kurtis, we met Noah and William and Rhys and Maxence-" Griffith shook his head and cleared his throat " Well, you get the picture. Anyways, back on topic... We were a team. It all went downhill when Kurtis died."

He sighed. "We had grown very fond of Kurtis, so the news that the Enemy Heavy had killed him… it crushed us. Neither of us could sleep very well, I could barely eat without feeling sick afterwards, Isaac got almost depressed, and… and… after Isaac was killed…"

Griffith lowered his head and held it in his hands, his voice sounding choked up when he spoke. "I felt like my world came to a stop," he wept "and… for reasons unknown, I'm having a traumatic reaction to it. When you lose someone whose friendship you held close, and who had a big impact on your life, you can't choose how your body responds to it. I… I physically can't bring myself to eat. I end up hunched over a trash can vomiting every time I try, unless it's something little. I'm almost afraid to eat at all now. I know that may not make sense, but it's true…" he lamented.

Ayer nodded his head in understanding, and patted Griffith on the shoulder "I understand your pain, Griffith. I really do. My brother, Mason, died recently."

The Pyro 'Aww'ed, sniffled a bit, and turned closer to Ayer "I'm sorry to hear that. May I ask how he died?"

"Heart attack. Widowmaker."

"I've never heard of that before. What is that?" Griffith asked. Ayer sighed and answered.

"It's a very very bad heart attack. And they call it 'Widowmaker' for a reason. If you get them when you're young, like Mason was, it usually kills you. But Mason survived it, and ended up in the hospital. He was in there for a week or so, and… he ended up having another heart attack, and this one killed him…" Ayer explained, now fighting back tears. "I cannot sleep… I get nightmares, and it is horrible. I always end up waking up from one at around three o'clock in the morning, then I can't get myself to sleep again. I'm so tired…"

"I'm so sorry…" Griffith said to him as he pulled Ayer into a hug. Ayer hugged back, as he had before, and held.

"Is there anything I can do for you?" The Pyro asked

"I should be asking you that." Ayer replied with a sad sigh.

"I don't think anything can be done for me… I just want to be able to eat without feeling sick." Griffith admitted.

Ayer nodded his head. "Could you… could you try to eat? Please? That'll be what you can do for me. And everyone else on this team, in fact."

Griffith hummed sadly before saying. "I… I don't know."

"Griffith, you'll never get better if you don't try. I won't force you to eat if you don't want to, but if you really want to get better as much as you say you do, you'll try again… do it for Kurtis and Isaac."

Griffith took a few deep breaths, let go of Ayer, and removed his mask from his face. "Alright."

He picked up the sandvich from the plate, and took a reluctant bite of it.

"Fiiiiiinallyyyyyyy!" Noah sang out happily, raising his hands in the air.

The sudden loud sound caused Ayer to jolt, and then look around. In that time, apparently most of the others had taken note of what was happening, and watched, clearly interested in where it would go. From the looks on their faces, it went somewhere good.

Maxence exclaimed "Splendid!" out loud, while the others sighed in relief, or nodded in approval.

The moment of relief was something much needed for this team. The tenseness in the air had gone away to an extent. Ayer stayed next to Griffith as Maxence and Kendrick came over, Kurt joining them soon after.

An unknown amount of time passed, and as the team turned to look outside, they noticed that it was starting to get dark. And once it started to get dark on the night of a new arrival, the ones who had been there the longest knew what would come. Almost as soon as they saw the sky darkening, they flooded back to the base, Maxence still supporting the drunken Kendrick. The Demo knew not what was going on, though, so he was happy as could be along the way. Kurt, on the other hand, was apprehensive. He stuck near Ayer for that reason.

"Umm, Ayer." Kurt began "Do you know vhat's going on?"

Ayer responded with "I think so. Maxence was saying something about the Blu Team going crazy on the nights that new Mercs got here."

"Vhat kind of crazy? Murderous crazy?"

Ayer didn't know how to respond for a moment, but then shrugged. "I am not sure. He said he was shot at, so maybe."

"Oh. Zhat's unsettling."

"Indeed," Maxence said from behind them "Which is why you zhree will be staying in zhe spawn room until zhe coast is clear. It's not safe for you to be out yet."

"Why not?" Kendrick asked, as he too was listening in.

"Respawn hasn't fully processed your DNA yet. If you die, you could at best, respawn with different DNA and become horribly disfigured, and at worst, be gone forever."

Ayer shuddered at the thought, and looked over at Kurt, who looked at Rhys, who shook his head. "That ain't what'll happen." he mouthed.

Maxence and Rhys led the three to the spawn room, Maxence setting Kendrick down on a bench and then exiting. Kendrick only responded by laying down on the bench, and falling harmlessly asleep. The Frenchman came back in a moment later, arms full of weapons.

"For you zhree, just in case anyzhing happens." he said as he laid the weapons out along the floor. He picked up a Syringe gun from the pile, and handed it out to Kurt, who 'Ooo'ed excitedly, and took it gratefully. Maxence also gave him a Medigun, and an Übersaw.

Maxence then called Ayer over, and gestured to what appeared to be a rocket launcher. "Zhis is yours now."

Ayer took ahold of the weapon, the weight forcing him to bend a little. Despite that small drawback, the weapon felt easy enough to maneuver. It appeared to be a typical rocket-propelling weapon, but something about it made it feel special. Every Soldier needed his Rocket Launcher, after all.

"Whoa… thank you. Really." The younger Soldier told the Spy. Maxence smiled and nodded in response, then held out another weapon to him. Ayer put the Rocket Launcher down and took the weapon now. He focused his attention on the gun in his hand, a sawed-off shotgun. He could tell it was a useful weapon, as he had seen many others with one like it. The smooth metal felt cold in his hand, icy even. It hadn't been used in a while.

Ayer thanked Maxence for the Shotgun, and set it near him, then was handed a shovel. He could tell immediately that the shovel was worn, and the handle splintered. It had been used in battle before, he could tell. "Zhis was supposed to go to Isaac, since his last one completely broke. It's an old and worn out zhing, but it will work if you don't have anyzhing else."

Ayer nodded his head, and took the shovel gratefully. "Thank you again. I will try to put these to the best use that I possibly can." he promised, to which Maxence smiled and nodded "And you will do great things wizh zhem. You might be smaller and younger zhan most, but you have great potential, Ayer. I can sense it."

The kind words made Ayer smile. Before he could open his mouth to speak though, Maxence had disappeared out the door, though. Something told him that the Spy knew he was grateful for the encouragement though.

He looked over at the snoring Kendrick, seeing a Grenade launcher, and a Sticky-Bomb launcher near him. Ayer chuckled a bit, and took a seat near Kurt, who was fiddling with the revolving part of his Syringe Gun.

The Scotsman's snoring was the only sound in the room for a while, until an explosion was heard from outside, followed by gunshots and screaming and battle cries. And from the sounds of it rapidly increasing, it was getting bad real fast. In response to the horrid noises, Kurt stepped towards the door. "I should probably get out zhere and help."

"Kurt, no. You can't go out there, our DNA isn't in the system! Didn't you hear Maxence? If we die, we're gone for good!"

The German looked down at Ayer "Do you not hear zhe chaos outside? Does it not sound like zhey need our help!?"

Just as Ayer opened his mouth to respond, a beaten and battered Noah stumbled into the Spawn room. He spat out blood, along with a tooth, and then spoke "The Blu's have upped their fuckin' game! Go from intimidation and scare to trying to kill us! They're such assholes!"

Immediately, Kurt took the Medigun he had been given, and pushed the lever, allowing the healing mist to spread over the young Bostonian. The wounds began to close themselves up, the Medigun working it's magic, and within forty-five seconds, the Scout was good as new, and running back out to fight. Kurt bolted out of the spawn room to follow.

Ayer sucked in a breath through his teeth, and reached out after him, his hand barely missing his labcoat. "Kurt! No!"

Ayer swore to himself under his breath, gathered his own weapons, and looked out in the direction Kurt had ran. He felt his stomach drop, though nothing was there. He didn't know how Kurt did it. Running out there into the heat of aggressive battle, without being fully processed by the Respawn system, knowing that if he died, he was gone.

Ayer took a few deep breaths, contemplating running out there himself. If he died, then he'd create yet another loss for his team to deal with. Griffith… Griffith worried him. But if he died… it's not like his father would care. But if he went out to fight, he knew he may be able to prove to his doubtful teammates that he is capable enough to live up to the Soldier title he had been given so early.

So hey. What did he have to lose?

He stepped out of the Spawn room, and charged outside, ready to face whatever came his way.

The battlefield was chaos. Explosions and gunfire rang out loudly, unaffected by the rain that fell. Though the ground glistened against the light because of it, Ayer could clearly see the blood running with the water. He let out a tiny gasp at the sight, taking it as a warning of sorts.

Below him, he heard Vladik yell out loudly to a stumbling Medic "GET BEHIND ME, DOKTOR!"

Kurt immediately did as he was told, and took shelter behind the giant man. "Ja!"

The giant man aimed his mini-gun at the enemy, and fired rapidly into them, mowing down two or three unknown BLU Mercs. Ayer rocket-jumped into the battlefield, aiming at and shooting at his BLU doppelganger, but missing. He did, however, hit the enemy Engineer, killing him, and preventing him from finishing his sentry.

He fired a few more rockets, finishing off more Mercs, before running into the center building, where most of the action seemed to be taking place. Amazingly, he hadn't taken a hit yet. He sped over to Rhys, who had built a teleporter near his Dispenser. The Texan smiled at him "Well hey there! Guess you decided to join the fight!"

Ayer chuckled a little bit "Yep! And I am nervous as all Hell!"

As he said that, a bullet flew past his head. He felt the wind caused by it brush what little of his hair was exposed back a bit, and he let out a scream. Rhys pulled him back, making him crouch behind the Dispenser. Upon seeing that his helmeted friend was just scared, not hurt, Rhys let out a nervous laugh.

"Whew! That was close!"

"You think so!?" Ayer shouted out, sounding fearful and sarcastic, but still laughing with the Engineer.

"That Sniper's crazy, Soldier! Watch out for him, he'll getcha when ya least expect it!" Rhys warned.

Ayer nodded in understanding, and fired a rocket in the direction that the bullet had come from. The scream of a dying Sniper following the explosion told him he made another kill. Rhys smiled. "Hell of a shot, Soldier! I don't know what that Scout was thinkin', you're a natural!"

Ayer smiled "Thanks, Engie!"

"Get out there, Soldier! You've got this!" Rhys encouraged before setting up a Sentry. Ayer ran back out into battle, but this time into a separate building from the main one. He backed into the smaller building, allowing his eyes to scan the area in an attempt to find where he should try to fight next.

Without warning, he heard the scream of a Scout behind him. His reaction was immediate, and he spun around to see Noah being attacked by the Blu Soldier. Pulling out his shotgun, Ayer charged in, firing once in close enough range. A bullet fragment hit the enemy on the arm, doing enough damage to hurt and distract. This gave Noah enough time to run out of the building.

Ayer tried to follow, but felt the now enraged Blu's grip lock around his shoulder and yank backwards. The Red Soldier yelped, dropping his shotgun, and swinging backwards at the sudden attacker with his fist. The hands pulled him further back into the building, out of sight of anyone who could help him. He felt himself be shoved into the wall, and when he looked up at his attacker. He now noticed that the other man was noticeably bigger than him, and the dangerous-looking scowl plastered across his doppelganger's face told him that he was in trouble now.

Ayer tried to scramble past him and get outside, only for the bigger Soldier to put him in a chokehold and drag him back again. Ayer responded by thrashing wildly, doing anything and everything in his power to escape. The Blu Soldier growled at him and threw him onto the floor now, diving onto him a few seconds afterwards. After a few punches had been thrown, Ayer suddenly felt the other Soldier's bloody and cold hands tighten in a vise-like grip around his neck.

Ayer fought back, instinctively terrified of what would wait for him on the other side. He coughed and gagged, clearly trying to scream for help as he clawed frantically - but uselessly- at the hands around his throat. The Blu Soldier could feel Ayer's heart pounding like a frightened animals, and he found it rather gratifying. He let out a menacing, yet quiet cackle. "Look at you, Maggot. You call yourself a Soldier?"

The grip tightened as the enemy spoke, and Ayer dug more at the Blu Soldier's hands, but the grip was unyielding. This wasn't working. As his lungs began to burn, he reached at the Blu Soldier's face, clawing with enough force to draw blood, but to no avail. After some number of excruciating seconds, Ayer's vision became blotched with dark spots, causing him to become more frantic. The ache in his chest grew. He had to breathe. He had to. The Blu Soldier was relentless, though, almost seeming to enjoy the younger man's suffering as he writhed under his grasp. Though Ayer felt himself begin to weaken, he continued to try to force his attackers hands away from his neck.

"You are a disgrace to the uniform!" The Blu Soldier roared.

Ayer felt tears of frustration and indescribable panic sting in his eyes, and he continued to try to scream, his attempts coming out as nothing more than chokes and sputters. There was no escape. No way out. He gasped, trying desperately to get air again. His vision began to fade to black, his lungs on fire. His arms went limp at his sides, and a wave of blackness overcame his vision, his eyelids slowly fluttering closed, forcing him into the dark.

But did this stop the enemy? No. In fact, it only encouraged him. He could still feel the young Soldier's pulse. He knew that this pathetic excuse for a Red Merc was merely unconscious. He would wait until the heartbeat sputtered to a halt before he released his grip.

But as he felt a sharp object slice its way into his back, the last thing he knew was that the Red Spy had other plans.

Maxence threw the dead Blu Soldier aside, now going to the aid of his unconscious friend, lifting the friendly Soldier's upper body off of the ground and holding him, trying to see if there were any obvious injuries.

"Ayer!? A-Ayer!?" the Red frenchman stammered, shaking his teams Soldier's limp body slightly, not getting a response from him. Noah stood behind him, his expression twisted with a look similar to fear.

"Oh my god, I knew this would happen! I knew he wouldn't be able to defend himself if someone bigger than him got ahold of him!" he shouted out.

Maxence turned to the Scout, his face holding a no-nonsense expression. Noah knew that look.

"Go get Kurt! Get zhe docteur! NOW!" Maxence commanded, sending the Scout running. Maxence took a few ragged breaths to try and calm himself. He was left there, kneeling and holding his possibly dead teammate protectively. He couldn't lose another one. Not so soon after Isaac. Not again. Not like this.

" _Sois fort, soldat._ " he pleaded " _L'aide arrivera bientôt. Je vous promets._ "


	4. Chapter 4

**I'm alive! And I am SO sorry for not posting sooner. Life has been crazy lately, family problems have happened, and I've been completely swamped lately. The end of this chapter might look a little lazy, but that's just because I was desperate to release something before too horribly long. So, for that I apologize, and I hope you enjoy this still.**

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Maxence stood by the bedside, clearly anxious. Unsure of how to cope, he smoked a cigarette in an attempt to relieve the gnawing feeling. Ayer still hadn't woken up. That scared the Frenchman to his core. In the room with him, were four people. Rhys, who stood in the corner with his arms crossed, tapping his foot and letting out a groan of nervousness now and again. Griffith, who sat on the floor at the foot of the bed. He could be heard sniffling through his mask. Kurt sat next to the Pyro, holding him in a one-armed hug and mumbling anything he could to comfort the distressed man. Kendrick sat on the edge of the bed, almost touching Ayer. Outside, he was still drunken, and he looked very dismayed as he took another gulp of Scrumpy. Inside, he was angry. No, not angry. Furious. If he saw that Blu Soldier anywhere NEAR Ayer again, he would make sure that the Blu would never be able to walk without help ever again.

Kurt sighed audibly and stood up, leaving Griffith whimpering a bit. Kurt looked at the EKG, as well as other data he gathered from the time he had been alone with the Soldier to check everything out. He paced around a bit while explaining.

"Ozher zhan zhe… scratches and bruising on his neck," Kurt started, almost angrily as he said the last part "zhere is, zhankfully, no obvious physical trauma… vitals are stable… I zhink zhe reason he hasn't voken up yet is zhat he's just exhausted."

"He did say something about not being able to sleep, and that he was always tired. Maybe that could play a factor." Griffith recalled, voice muffled, but not totally inaudible.

"Ahh. Zhat explains it zhen. Vell… he'll vake up vhen he's ready."

A few minutes passed, before Ayer started to twitch, then opened his eyes. He groaned a little, groggily looking around and raising his hand off of the bed towards everyone slightly in the process, catching their attention.

"Ohhh, Thank God!" Rhys blurted out, followed by Maxence sighing in relief and letting a much more relaxed expression take a spot on his face. Kendrick smiled calmly and patted the Soldier's arm lightly. Kurt immediately walked back over.

"Hah! Good to see you've voken up, my friend. How do you feel?"

"Not too good," Ayer rasped after a silent moment "I am a little light-headed… I kind of feel like I'm going to vomit."

"Yer voice is toast, too. Yah sound terrible." Kendrick joked, which seemed to make Ayer let out a half-chuckle.

"You could say that. I can hear myself, I sound terrible." the Soldier replied as he sat up and rubbed his head, seeming to be in a bit of pain.

In this time, Griffith had stood up and approached, standing near the bed and looking at him.

"Hi, Griffith." Ayer croaked.

"Hi, Soldier. I'm glad to see you're awake." The Pyro responded, his voice holding a hint of repressed excitement. Rhys took a few steps forwards, mumbling a few things under his breath before looking over to the Spy.

"Spy?" he asked, noticing Maxence was in thought.

Maxence let out a small sigh after inhaling the smoke once more. "Rhys, gazher our colleagues. We need to have a meeting."

Rhys nodded his head quickly and rushed out of the room. Maxence gestured for the German doctor to follow, which he did, leaving the Spy, a half-drunk Demo, and an injured Soldier in the room.

The Frenchman turned to his younger friend "Do you feel well enough to walk?" he questioned, a hint of concern in his voice. "You did say you were lightheaded."

Ayer, though he didn't feel well at all, swung his legs over the side of the bed and stood, wobbling a bit as he did. Kendrick noticed and stood up, hooking his arm around the Soldier to support him and stop him from falling over onto his weapons, which were placed neatly at the bedside.

"I am okay." Ayer assured, giving a small smile afterwards. Maxence returned the smile.

"Zhen let's head to zhe main room."

Kendrick helped Ayer out of the room, the two following Maxence. They headed down the stairs again, cautiously for Ayer's sake, and once they reached the floor, they headed to the circle of chairs again, and took their seats. Except for Maxence who stayed in the center, and began to speak.

"Now… I'm sure all of you are aware of what has happened to our Soldier?"

The rest of the team nodded. Maxence returned the nod. "Excellent. Now… allow me to explain somezhing to you." he said as he approached Ayer, who in turn looked up at him. Maxence put his hand underneath Ayer's chin, which in turn caused the Soldier to jolt back and gasp a little, raising his hands slightly in a defensive manner.

"It's alright, I'm not going to hurt you." Maxence assured, putting his fingers back in place. He lifted Ayer's head gradually, tilting it back. The Spy growled upon seeing the dark, greyish purple bruises and the small, bloody scratches on his younger friends neck. After a few seconds, he turned to everyone else and spoke.

"What we have... here," Maxence began as he gestured to a dark, ugly-looking bruise. "Here," he repeated as he pointed to a scratch. He continued the 'here's until he'd pointed out every last tiny injury on the Soldier's neck.

"and here... is a failure to communicate... A failure to properly prepare zhe new recruits for what was coming." he began " We gave zhem… absolutely no training. We did not show zhem zhe area - I could have done zhat yesterday, but I did not, so I take full responsibility for it -, we did not teach zhem which of zhe Enemies was zhe most dangerous to take on alone, nozhing. We're extremely lucky zhey knew how to use zheir weapons. Ozher zhan zhat, zhey had close to no idea what zhey were doing, and bozh zhe look on Kurt's face zhroughout zhe battle, and zhe bruising on Ayer's neck _PROVE_ it." Maxence paused for a moment "I'm very surprised zhat Kurt did not sustain any injuries. Vladik, you did an EXCELLENT job of protecting him, so kudos to you." He said, gesturing to Vladik. The Heavy replied with a simple nod. Maxence continued "And Noah, zhank you for coming to me when you knew Ayer was in trouble. If it hadn't been for your quick action, we would have lost him. Possibly forever."

Noah's hand found the back of his head. "Yeah… I couldn't let that happen." Noah let himself glance at Ayer before continuing "I mean, he might not be what Isaac was, but that doesn't mean I want him to die." The Scout paused again and sighed. Rhys was the next to speak.

"Let's just be glad he's alive, and that it wasn't the Blu Spy who got to him." A few mercenaries shuddered, others just widening their eyes and nodding.

"Bloody spook." William grumbled as he tightened his crossed arms across his chest. By this time, Ayer had lowered his head back to normal. He felt it necessary to ask about this Spy, but decided against it.

"Now… just so you're all aware, because of last night's events, zhe battle for today has been called off. Ceasefire will continue for yet anozher day." Maxence started again.

"We must use zhis time wisely. After Breakfast, we will do a little bit of game-training, which I know most of you like."

"Game-training?" Kurt queried.

"Game-training is… well, exactly what it sounds like. We train, but we make a little game out of it, so it's not overly-harsh and intense. We want to prepare for what's coming, not exhaust and scare each ozher. For example, zhe game I like to lead is a more advanced version of 'Hide-and-Seek'. You all run zhroughout our territory -eizher alone or in pairs - and I try to find you. After zhat, we 'fight' to test your skills in taking on a Spy, and zhen you come back here and wait for everyone else." Maxence explained

The Medic hummed a bit "Seems simple enough."

"Indeed. Now, let's eat. We're going to need all zhe energy we can get."

Again,the team made their way to the building they were in yesterday. He'd just now discovered that his team called it the 'Mad House', even though it didn't seem to be that way when they were in there yesterday. As they entered the building again, Ayer noticed a door on the far wall that he hadn't before. This door was opened by Noah, and from what Ayer saw, there was a fridge and what appeared to be part of an oven. The room behind the door was a kitchen of some sort. Noah closed the door behind him, and there was a bit of shuffling in the room. Kendrick stood next to Ayer, appearing to be looking in that direction himself.

"Does he do the cooking?" Kendrick asked, slurring a bit. Maxence replied.

"Well, we take turns. Everyday we switch, zhough sometimes in zhe past, getting our old Medic to stop cooking was like pulling teezh." the Frenchman chuckled. "He loved cooking. 'It relieves stress', he would say."

Both men nodded, then looked around for Kurt, seeing him sitting at the table next to Rhys. Griffith was across from him, and they appeared to be having some kind of technical conversation. Kendrick and Ayer decided they would leave him to it, at first, until the Medic caught sight of them, smiled, and waved for them to join the three. In response, Ayer and Kendrick did. Ayer to the left of Griffith, across from Rhys, while Kendrick sat to the right of Griffith, not across from anyone.

"Howdy, Soldier. Howdy, Demo." Rhys greeted with a smile. The duo returned the smile and greeted him as well.

"Glad you could join us," the Southerner continued "I was wanting to talk to you three about something real quick."

"Vhat is it?" Kurt asked.

"You remember how last night before that fight how Spy was tellin' you about respawning with some different DNA and becoming disfigured?"

"I remember that." Kendrick commented "That was scary."

"Well, that's the thing. That ain't what happens. I should know, I respawned with some different DNA." he told them, seeming completely serious.

Ayer's eyes widened, Kurt 'Ooo'ed, and Kendrick blinked strangely.

"You did?" Kurt asked, seeming intrigued now.

Rhys nodded "Yeah," he said with an odd simper "I'll show you if you want."

"Please do." the German approved before any of the other two new recruits could even open their mouths to reply.

After an 'Alrighty then', Rhys undid one of the straps on his overalls, pulled that side down slightly, then lifted up his shirt on that side. On his ribs was a large blotch of slightly darker skin. There was a small, but noticeable difference.

"Whoa…" Ayer gasped

Rhys pointed to the lighter area of his skin. "This here is my DNA," he then pointed to the slightly darker patch "This here is the old Engineer's DNA."

"Fascinating!" Kurt blurted out "How does it feel?"

Rhys shrugged "I honestly can't feel anything there. One time after I fought with the enemy Spy, I ran back to the others, and - I kid you not - the Spy's knife was in my side. I didn't even know I got stabbed, I didn't even FEEL it."

"It's true. I was the first person he came to after that, it was crazy." Griffith added as Rhys buttoned himself back up. "I don't know how he didn't die before he got to me. Everyone was really surprised."

"I'm surprised, too." Kendrick said, nodding his head as he spoke. "That couldn't have been pleasant."

"It actually wasn't that bad." Rhys assured with a smile "Our old medic fixed me up right quick, and then it was over. I've just gotta remember to watch my side and be careful."

The group talked a bit more about it, but stopped when they heard Noah announce that breakfast was ready, in the form of: "Guys, I made Pancakes!"

Then, like seagulls to a chip that had been dropped, the mercenaries flocked over to the kitchen to gather their helpings. Maxence groaned in exasperation.

"Gentlemen, one at a time! Save some for zhe new recruits." He chastised as Kurt chuckled.

"Zhat's alright, zhat's alright." he assured "I zhink ve're okay for now. I brought snacks vizh me and ate zhem earlier zhis morning."

Kendrick turned to look at the Medic "Ayeeee, we had the same plan." the Scotsman grinned. Ayer was hungry, though he didn't complain about it. He would wait for everyone else to get their share first, especially Griffith.

Once everyone had gotten their food, Ayer walked up to the larger table, and took two pancakes for himself, and took an apple out of the nearby fruit bowl. He then went back and took a spot next to his friends. Rhys swallowed a bite of pancake before speaking.

"So, like Spy said, we're gonna be doing some game-training after breakfast is over, so I'm gonna try to fill you in on what exactly happens:" he began, the three new recruits listening to what he had to say.

"So, there's a few different ones, but that hide-and-seek-esque one Spy told you about is what I'm going to focus on, since that's what we're doing. What happens is we all get old or fake weapons to fight with, since we don't actually want to hurt each other, and we run around places and hide. Some people chose not to hide and move around instead, since that's what they'd actually be doing when encountering a Spy. Now Maxence, he's kinda merciless. He doesn't give you much time to process anything, he just gets right on you once he finds you. You've gotta be quick, but you've also gotta be smart. Panic is not your friend when you're face-to-face with a Spy. If you're panicking, you're not thinking, which means you're not being smart, and that makes it easier for him, or any Spy, to get you. And we NEVER want that."

The trio nodded simultaneously, and Griffith chimed in.

"Another thing, you should never stand still when encountering a Spy. You need to keep moving, and either defeat the Spy, or escape him somehow. Ayer, that might be easy for you, you could just Rocket Jump away if you're in a clear area, but for others it's tough. And if you're not in a clear area, you still need to know what to do."

As they ate breakfast, they discussed training plans, and thought about who should go with who. The new recruits agreed that they shouldn't all go together, and that they should probably pair up with someone who knew what they were doing, to learn from them.

"Any of you can come with me if you want." Griffith told them. "I used to go with Isaac, but I can't do that now. I'll gladly help you out."

The three exchanged glances and shrugs, before Kendrick raised his hand. "I'll go with yah, lad." he said with a small grin. Griffith clapped a little in response.

"Alright, Kurt, umm, why don't you go with Vladik? I don't mean to be pushing the whole ' Heavy n' Medic' stereotype thing, but I've honestly never seen Vladik protect anyone how he protected you last night. He's usually a stone-cold kind of person. Maybe he's starting to value people because of all the respawn failures."

Kurt shrugged, not seeming to mind. "Zhat's fine by me, I don't really care."

Noah, who had seemed to overhear the conversation, stepped in. "U-Umm, hey. I don't mean to intrude, but I could take Ayer." he started, causing the Soldier to look up and over at him. The scout grimaced a little "I mean, well, you don't have to go with me, and I honestly wouldn't blame you if you didn't. I just- I feel bad for how I talked about you, I shouldn't have said that stuff. These past couple weeks have been hard for everybody, and I was just mad… I still am mad, but I know I shouldn't've taken it out on you. I'm sorry, and… I guess I want to make it up to you somehow." he explained, his apology sounding heartfelt.

Ayer thought for a moment or so, and then nodded. "Well, considering you saved my life last night by getting help, I would say you have already made it up. But, I will still go with you, since you offered."

Noah took that answer in for a moment, and then smiled. "Alright, sweet!"

About twenty more minutes of useless conversation passed before everyone was finished eating, and Maxence called them back to the base, and led them downstairs.

"Okay, let us gazher our 'weapons' and get to training." he said as he led his team to one of the back rooms. In this room were weapons. Old, worn-out, useless-looking weapons, along with ones that were clearly fake. As the other Mercs gathered these, Ayer looked at Kurt, seeing a questioning look on his face.

"Fake weapons, Medic." Ayer reminded as he shifted across the room to an old, broken rocket launcher. "We do not actually want to hurt each other."

The Medic responded with an 'Oh, right!' and a nod, indicating that he had forgotten about that part. " I'm sorry, I have zhe vorst fucking memory." he chortled at himself, the contagious laughter making Ayer chuckle as well.

Once everyone had gathered their weapons, they headed out, standing near the entrance, and gathered around their Spy. After the chatter between them had silenced, Maxence spoke.

"Does everyone have a partner?" the frenchman questioned.

Everyone responded yes except for William, who seemed to like to work alone. That, consequently, added a third person to a group, but it was no big deal. Maxence smiled and nodded once to every member of his team, and gave a small grin. This grin held a message: 'Prepare to get destroyed. All of you.'

Thought the Frenchman didn't say that out loud, he did say one thing. "May I make a suggestion?"

"What's that?" Ayer responded before anyone else.

Maxence drew his fake butterfly knife, and pointed it at his team. "RUN."

At that last word, the entire team scrambled into different directions. Noah took ahold of Ayer's wrist and started to lead him to a nearby building. Noah was considerably faster than him, though, which caused the Soldier to stumble a little, almost falling on the way there. Once they actually reached their destination, though, the first thing Noah did was take a seat on a crate, and lean back against another one, crossing his hands behind his head in a relaxed pose.

"Alright, now it's just the waiting game from here." the young Bostonian told him. "If you've got anything to talk about, just tell me."

This confused Ayer, but he didn't question it - at least not out loud - as he took a spot on another crate, near his teammate.

"Umm… okay." he hesitated. "There… actually is one thing I'm wondering about."

"Yeah?" Noah asked, now looking at the ceiling with a bored expression.

"How are you doing? Y'know, with all the loss recently?"

Noah froze, then lifted his head to look at his teams Soldier. He blinked strangely, and shook his head a little before he sighed, stared at the ceiling again, and spoke. "Honestly… not good at all, man. I feel like shit constantly. Especially since Isaac died…"

Ayer nodded his head "You were close? You, him, and Griffith?"

Noah sat up. "Yeah, man… but there's something that Pyro didn't tell you, at least I don't think he did…"

Ayer's curiosity piqued as he turned his head to face Noah properly. "What… would that be?" the Soldier inquired. The Scout sighed heavily and sat up, bringing his knees to his chest and hugging them. He closed his eyes, clearly trying to fight back tears.

"Isaac… died saving me and Griffith."


End file.
